Leap!
The Swallowing Fire Monkey's figure carved a nimble arc through the air as it sprang upward. Beneath the cover of smoke and dust, it soared away from the Beast Tide, rapidly approaching the corpse of the Primordial Desolate Beast.
From its appearance, this was the corpse of an elephant.
A layer of grey-blue elephant hide, tattered and worn, its underlying flesh long since disintegrated. Stark white bones jutted out in a skeletal frame, and together with the enormous hide, they formed a colossal "tent."
It was a half-collapsed "tent," its ruined state radiating an aura of brutal devastation. Clearly, this Primordial Desolate Beast had endured an extraordinarily fierce battle before its death.
A trace of doubt arose in Fang Yuan's mind: "What kind of existence could have killed this Primordial Desolate Beast?"
At this point, his position was already very close to the center of Tai Qiu.
This was one of the ten great forbidden lands of the Northern Plains — genuinely perilous beyond measure, unfathomably deep. Primordial Desolate Beasts lurking within gave even the supreme powers headaches.
After all, the combat prowess of a Primordial Desolate Beast could often rival that of an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal.
And among the supreme powers, those possessing an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal were only a handful.
In the vast Northern Plains, the openly known Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals numbered only four or five.
Even at the edges of Tai Qiu, the slightest misstep could trigger a Beast Tide. Primordial Desolate Beasts and Beast Tides — these two factors ensured that Tai Qiu remained undisturbed by the major Gu Immortal powers of the Northern Plains.
Fang Yuan drew ever closer to the Primordial Desolate Elephant's corpse.
Compared to this gargantuan remains, Fang Yuan was like a fly approaching a tattered grey-blue "tent."
There was not a wisp of wind.
But Fang Yuan gradually felt resistance mounting.
An invisible force pushed back against him in wave after wave, making him feel as though he were wading against the tide, pressing deeper into the sea.
Pressing further still, Fang Yuan began to experience auditory hallucinations.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
His ears were filled with the clamor of surging and receding tides.
"Water Path Dao marks!" Fang Yuan's heart went cold.
Without a doubt, this Primordial Desolate Elephant bore an extraordinarily rich collection of Water Path Dao marks.
Though the Primordial Desolate Elephant had died, its Water Path Dao marks had persisted along with the bones and hide, silently and ceaselessly influencing the heaven and earth of this domain.
Fang Yuan had encountered Primordial Desolate Beast corpses before, such as during Dongfang Changfan's tribulation.
But that Primordial Desolate Sky Bat's corpse had already been modified by Dongfang Changfan, so Fang Yuan hadn't experienced anything like this.
Within the super Gu formation in the ground trench, Fang Yuan had also collected quite a few Primordial Immortal materials. Some of those materials bore Dao marks so dense and numerous that they even produced visible halos of Dao mark light!
But those materials were, after all, only very small fragments. In terms of total Dao mark count, they were completely incomparable to this nearly intact Primordial Desolate Elephant corpse before Fang Yuan's eyes.
The Dao marks accumulated over a Primordial Desolate Beast's lifetime were terrifyingly vast.
Most crucially, this particular Primordial Desolate Beast appeared to have died not long ago.
That was why Fang Yuan felt such discomfort, finding it so difficult to approach.
"Whenever a Primordial Desolate Beast or Primordial Desolate Plant remains in one place for an extended period, the enormous Dao marks on its body gradually transform the surrounding environment, slowly reshaping the heaven and earth."
A thought flashed through Fang Yuan's mind, but his feet never stopped. His figure shifted and darted continuously as he exerted his utmost to draw closer.
It was precisely because of these Water Path Dao marks that there was no wind. The entire area around the corpse was utterly silent, without any trace of life.
"Once this environmental transformation is complete, perpetual clouds and mist will blanket the area, and it may even accumulate into a lake. Then it will give rise to many unique forms of vegetation and wildlife."
Fang Yuan analyzed that this region was not yet stable.
The Primordial Desolate Elephant's vast store of Dao marks was imperceptibly altering the surrounding environment.
This process might take decades, centuries, or even millennia. During this time, many of the Water Path Dao marks on the Primordial Desolate Elephant would be lost or dispersed, and Dao marks of other Paths from the surrounding heaven and earth would also be displaced, leaving Water Path as the dominant force.
Ultimately, the Water Path Dao marks in the surrounding environment and the remaining Water Path Dao marks on the Primordial Desolate Elephant's corpse would form an entirely new equilibrium. The elephant's skeletal remains would cease to deteriorate, and the remaining Water Path Dao marks would no longer diminish — instead, they would be nourished by the surrounding environment.
Aside from Fang Yuan, there was not a single trace of plant or animal life.
Fang Yuan immediately stood out conspicuously.
The Beast Tide suddenly fell into disarray. The originally uniform, synchronized movement showed an unusual pattern of chaos.
Fang Yuan's heart lurched, and he turned to observe.
But the Beast Tide only briefly faltered before quickly returning to normal. It was like a great wave crashing around this Primordial Desolate corpse, surging off in another direction. Wherever it passed, grass and trees were flattened, dust billowed, and the landscape was left in utter disarray.
Fang Yuan exhaled a turbid breath and thought, "It seems the Shadow Sect's intelligence was accurate. Although Desolate Beasts are easily influenced by Heavenly Will, the degree of influence is limited over short periods. The Beast Tide's momentum has already been established — even if Heavenly Will noticed my anomaly, it would be difficult to redirect the Beast Tide to ram into the Primordial Desolate corpse. Within this range, I am safe!"
After a short while, Fang Yuan came to a halt.
He surveyed his surroundings and nodded slightly.
This distance was just right — not too close to the center of the Primordial Desolate corpse, not too far.
More crucially, the Gu Insects in his hand had begun to react.
Before his departure, the Langya Earth Spirit had entrusted him with a set of Gu Insects for deployment. The ones now responding were specialized scouting Gu — as long as they were within a certain range and sensed a suitable environment for formation placement, they would emit sounds and vibrations perceivable only to a Gu Immortal.
Set up the formation!
Fang Yuan ceased his advance, stood firm, and began channeling Immortal Essence one by one, activating the Gu Insects.